Celebrating the first year in a new business, with unease
Next week marks a year since I started my current chapter, coaching, and Her Circle, a support community for women in business.
Getting ready to celebrate it, I felt a strange unease. It echoed something a participant said to me last week at Her Circle orientation. I'd been talking about the circle as something that was just created, without naming that I was the one who created it, the one who stands behind it, grows it, minds it. “But you made this happen, you are the founder,” she told me. And I was surprised by the unease I felt. That unease is similar to when I considered writing this post about inviting you to celebrate with me the achievements of the past year.
Celebrating achievements feels a bit strange, even though there's clearly an achievement in being here. Is it a female thing, forever the imposter? Maybe. My big fear is to sound false, as if I’m declaring I've arrived somewhere. Because it doesn't feel like I've arrived. It feels very much in process, very much still at the start, which is what a one-year-old business should feel like.
So what does it mean to celebrate honestly, and still let myself feel the joy of trying, of starting something, of having small successes along the way?
In Think Visual 0.1, when we were a team of around 10-15 people, we celebrated a lot; it was part of our culture. Running a business alone, that's harder to hold onto.
What I’m after realising is that running my business alone - you, the reader, are kind of my people to celebrate with. And that feels vulnerable.
But If there's one thing I've learned this year, from listening to the stories of my coachees, of the women of Her Circle, and my own, it's that sitting with this very uncomfortable vulnerability, and not only being okay with it, but doing what I set to do anyway - that is the real practice. It's proof that I'm actually evolving.
So here's what I want to celebrate:
A call today with the newest member of Her Circle and my new coachee, who arrived from outside my own circle;
The friendships that Her Circle brought me. I’m celebrating each and every woman who showed up in the past 12 months, shared their stories, opened their hearts, gave advice, let me ask endless questions, and made Her Circle what it is now.
My writing, which has become part of my life in a way I couldn't picture living without now, and which wasn't here a year ago.
And the nerve it took to start Lighthouse Talks on top of everything else, not knowing where it was going. I still don't fully know. But I can see it starting to make sense.
My two new projects: helping West Cork Development Partnership launch a new initiative with the vision of a more inclusive Ireland. And supporting the board of Sunyata, a Buddhist Centre in County Clare, to find a vision their community can rally behind.
A year in, there isn't a single piece of work in front of me that I'm not genuinely excited to do.
So what would it mean for you to celebrate with me? Maybe it's sending a message instead of leaving a like. Maybe it's subscribing to my Substack, so I know you're reading. Maybeit's joining a Her Circle in person or online, or joining the next Lighthouse Lab. Maybe just dropping me a line to tell me you are with me, or even sharing your own celebrations - I’d love that!
I leave you with this: Life is hard enough, especially now, when we can see and experience struggle everywhere and every day. Our choice to celebrate together is an act of rebellion. Come be a rebel with me.
